All About Recasts

DUN DUN DUN!

One of the most notorious and heated topics revolving around in this hobby is recasts. To dive better into this let’s first explore what they are and why people debate over them.

What is a recast?

Den of Angels which is one of the largest online forums out there states…

“A recast is a copy of a doll (or doll part) made from moulds of, or digital scanning of, existing dolls. When done without the express permission of the original artist or company, this is a violation of the original artist’s or company’s exclusive right to control the reproduction of their own intellectual property.”

So very much like there is a market for bootleg items such as designer handbags, shoes, clothes, etc. people are selling dolls that they have no artistry ownership over and selling them for personal profit.

How is this even happening? Aren’t there copyright laws?

To get better insight on answering this question I actually reached out to Ringdoll to ask them about the copyright process in China.

My question to them : Are there copyright laws in China?

Ringdoll: “China does have the copyright law. It includes a lot of parts, trademark copyright is one of it. Trademark copyright includes word mark and graphic trademark. It’s extremely strict, if there is a little similar with the patterns or the names, the trademark will not be applied for, even in different industries. For example, the overseas BJD company’s own brand trademark is not protected in China, they have to apply again in China, but they may face with a problem that the brand trademark have been used before. The price is very ordinary and not expensive (to apply). It just need times to apply, handing the application, handle, verify. And sometimes it may fail because of the above reasons after waiting a few months. If it fails, you need to submit it again and wait again, this is very tiring.”

So how are BJD companies protecting themselves?

Ringdoll: “The pirates are more and more skillful and can not be prevented now. They can carry out piracy operations as long as they get your products. So, there are two main parts we can do. One is protect our rights legally, we have applied the copyright protection for our dolls’ bodies and their looks. We can report it and leave to the legal department if we see any piracy on the website. The another one but is the more important one, which is the precautions for those players who are not clear about the piracy in the purchase. 1)Pay attention to the purchasing channel. You must buy it from the official website or the official recommended cooperative agency. 2)Birth card. Our genuine dolls will have a purple birth card. The number on the birth card is not only the membership number, but also the exclusive code of the dolls. Through this number, you can find out the corresponding information of the doll and the buyer.”

So it isn’t like our favorite companies are doing nothing to combat against these issues, it is just hard for them to fight this fight. It is especially hard for them when there is a demand that exists for recasts. As long as there is a demand there will always be a supply. People will always try to make a dime and find ways to distribute illegal products.

Why is it such a big deal?

It’s a big deal because it hurts the companies making our wonderful dolls. They are not huge corporations like Mattel or MGA(Monster High dolls). They are run by small teams, some with only maybe 10 workers total. So when BJD companies loose profits to recasters it really hurts them.

It is also very discouraging to BJD artists. These are people that spend countless hours into designing, sculpting, and creating dolls that we can enjoy and appreciate. All of their hard work is completely snatched from artists when recasters decide to get their art pieces, create a mold from them, and then turn around to sell them for their own gain.

There is a user on DoA by the name of Mangameow who actually reached out to a majority of the BJD companies asking them about what they were doing about the recast problem. It is heartbreaking to read the responses from the different companies and how hopeless they feel.

You can check out their ongoing contact list and responses here.

Why do people buy recasts?

Some people buy them unknowingly and some buy them knowingly.

Newbies that don’t know too much about the hobby have accidentally purchased them from eBay or other recast sites not even knowing what they are. Others will buy BJDs secondhand and later find out that it was recast being circulated in the marketplace.

Those who buy them knowingly usually do so for the following…

• The BJD company stopped selling this sculpt
• They only ran a few limited editions of a doll
• Don’t have enough money for a legit doll
• Wanted it in a different color that the company didn’t offer

Who is right and who is wrong? This is where the debates begin and people are quick to take a stand. At the end of the day I think the thing that we all need to realize that good people out there creating these wonderful pieces of art are getting the short end of the stick.

Recast companies are now even trying to claim that they own the dolls.

Please bring Ligui Luo to the stage.

This person has already started to make claims of ownership on several BJD companies. Like I mentioned earlier in the article, copyright laws have a much different process in China.

This is crazy! How can you claim someone else’s hard work? It is very disheartening to see this and since there is a demand for recasts this will continue. I truly hope that those who are still buying recasts don’t ignore these facts that theft is occurring.

How can we prevent recasts from existing?

Educate, educate, educate. Those of us who are veterans in the hobby need to help the newbies in the community. Help share informative videos or articles on the subject. (Share this post if needed!) Point people in the direction of buying straight from the company or from approved/partnered distributors.

I asked Ringdoll what is the best thing people in the BJD hobby can do to help discourage recasts?

Ringdoll: “In fact, the best way is not to buy things just because it’s cheap. Because the reason why those pirates are always existed and even developed better and better is that their customers are also booming. It is inevitable that only when there is market demand can they exist. I can understand why so many peoples like to purchase a pirated doll, since the price is cheaper, the production is faster, and sometimes you can purchase a sold-out doll. However, this is a serious harm to the genuines. No matter what brand it is, they all hate piracy. You definitely don’t want what you really like and support to be copied by a bunch of cheeky people, do you?”

Please note that we need to approach this in a way that is informative and level headed. I know there are people on both sides that are VERY passionate on the subject.

Be a positive and helpful voice when you talk to people.

If you find out that someone has purchased recasts that you know either in person or online, don’t break out the pitchforks and torches. If it is a newbie, ask if they are aware of their recast purchase. Most of the times they really honestly don’t know, and this is where we should be a helpful and positive community and educate them.

For those people you find that buy them knowingly, I definitely wouldn’t go picking a fight or start belittling them. They need to come to a realization themselves that buying legit is better all around. If they bring up the subject, then take that opportunity to really encourage them to go legit.

I actually spoke to several people that went legit after previously owning recast dolls. A lot of them converted after feeling guilty and not being able to show them off since a lot of groups do not allow the posting of recast dolls. Here is what a couple of them had to say.

“I was going legit I think for a year before this happened, but the recastors trying to copyright the dolls kind of sealed the deal for me. Like there’s no excuse for that.”-Anonymous

“My recasts were gifts from family members that didn’t know between legit websites and fakes. I understand why being legit is the right thing. I do not understand why some people find it okay to belittle and attack other people for their decision, even if it’s technically the wrong one.”-Anonymous

“In my opinion they aren’t worth the money because you get better quality dolls and much more variety with legit. Not to mention going legit is fair.”-Anonymous

“I bought a recast several years back. I was well aware of all issues that would come to it. I didn’t care. I wanted the doll and I got him. I absolutely fell in love with the doll. What made me turn around was seeing a local artist (who isn’t in the hobby) post some art work for sale that I was sure was modeled after a Pullip. After I did some searching I found the EXACT photo she copied. She even copied the stains on the clothes. Eventually word got around and she took it down. After words I realized I was no better. I may not be selling my doll but it just didn’t set right. I eventually sold him and bought a legit doll with the money. And just a few months ago my friend gifted me the legit version.”-Anonymous

“I had it in my head that the legit dolls were so expensive and the recasts were almost as good…I couldn’t afford the legits but when you have like 14 recasts like you can obviously afford less, but you can afford legit dolls. At that point I realized that it was kind of selfish of me that If I was in a position that I could support the artists that I should be doing that, and I feel better about doing that. So I sold off all my recasts for less than what I paid for them to get a handful of legit dolls that I got off of Facebook and Instagram and put some on layaway from Alice’s Collections and have been full legit since. I never had people encouraging me to go legit because I didn’t outwardly say “recast this” and didn’t outwardly say “legit this”…and it was kind of weird I didn’t like that idea that I couldn’t say my dolls were legit. But if someone were to come on my page or my YouTube or anything and started telling me “You’re a terrible person, you’re ruining the hobby” like attacking…honestly that probably would’ve just pushed me the other way…I like to come to my own realizations…I don’t think the bullying in this hobby is constructive. The people that went legit around me was inspiring. So those educational comments or posts that aren’t someone being a jerk or attacking somebody is good…attacking somebody is not good. “ -Rosie from Teenytinkers

When people make the decision to go legit let’s support them. It is great to hear these stories of people taking that step into fixing this problem. We need to work together in order to make this change.

Support artists

With all this information laid out for you I hope this may have convinced people who were either thinking of buying a recast or who currently own recast dolls to change their mind. This is a wonderful hobby and it is filled with amazing and beautiful dolls that we can all appreciate.

If you love BJDs then let’s help support our artists by buying their products and not recasts of their work.

Additional resources to share and use:

• Legit vs Recast comparison article on DOA : https://bit.ly/2LJZfrt
• Amaranth’s Castasways comparison article: https://bit.ly/2Ljnlgy
• Den of Angel Thread on comparison: https://bit.ly/2NL1iwd
• Master list of recast dolls (source unknown): https://bit.ly/39u2U9B
• Also contact the company themselves with photos and any numbers that might be on the doll itself.